Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Sporting \Sport"ing\, a.
   Of pertaining to, or engaging in, sport or sporrts;
   exhibiting the character or conduct of one who, or that
   which, sports.

   {Sporting book}, a book containing a record of bets, gambling
      operations, and the like. --C. Kingsley.

   {Sporting house}, a house frequented by sportsmen, gamblers,
      and the like.

   {Sporting man}, one who practices field sports; also, a horse
      racer, a pugilist, a gambler, or the like.

   {Sporting plant} (Bot.), a plant in which a single bud or
      offset suddenly assumes a new, and sometimes very
      different, character from that of the rest of the plant.
      --Darwin.